


fall into these arms

by daydoodles



Category: Sakamichi no Apollon | Kids on the Slope
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Punk, Concerts, Fluid Sexuality, Hospitalization, M/M, Wow those tags are wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 05:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4907728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydoodles/pseuds/daydoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaoru sneaks out for the first time in his life, and he's sure he'll end up regretting it by the time it's over. Despite everything that happens, he doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fall into these arms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [metblink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/metblink/gifts).



> Alright so first of all this show needs more love, and especially this ship *weeps* plus, punk au's are my life source.
> 
> Anyway, Sav wrote me an amazing oneshot so this is my humble attempt to return the favour! Hope you like it, love~

This is ridiculous. Completely, utterly, unarguably ridiculous. He should just give it up, right now, immediately.

Or at least, that's what Kaoru's trying to convince himself as he shoves open his bedroom window at 6:38pm on a Tuesday. He's pretty sure he can land a jump on the nearest branch of the big oak tree outside his room, but he hesitates with one foot on the windowsill. Why is he doing this, exactly? He doesn't even have a good answer, if he's being honest. He'd made the decision on impulse, but now he's too invested to bother changing his mind.

He'd told his family he was sick; they'd left him alone most of the day, so thankfully he didn't have to fake much. Right now they're probably eating dinner, which he'd deemed a good enough excuse to haul ass out of there. He's supposed to meet Ritsuko at the train station in ten minutes, and he's not entirely sure that's humanly possible at this rate. Sighing, he cards his long fingers through the side of his head that's covered in hair, adjusts his glasses, and uses the windowsill as a springboard.

His gut hits the branch with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of him, but he doesn't fall and he counts that as a blessing. The last thing he needs is a major injury from his first night of sneaking out, and he really isn't sure what he's doing to begin with. Granted, he may look like a punk, but inside he's actually a giant geek, an introvert even. He vaguely wonders how Ritsuko managed to get him to agree to this at all.

Steadying himself on the branch, he shimmies toward the trunk and miraculously latches onto it without incident. He's more than a little paranoid by this point, and he keeps looking around as if someone will bust from the house and out him at any second. He knows they won't, and he reminds himself of this over and over, a silent mantra as he slowly makes his way toward the ground. Once he's got both feet planted firmly in the grass, he turns back to look up at the faint glow seeping from his window one last time, and then he sprints off in the direction of the street.

-

Sentaro is not good with crowds. It's not that he doesn't care for them, or that he doesn't know how to interact, or anything like that; he just has a tendency to accidentally glare at people, and that's gotten him into trouble more times than he can recall. Though admittedly, he doesn't mind a good fight every once in a while, but it's become kind of a hassle to always be dealing with other people's shit.

So as he rides his motorcycle down the winding road toward the town's only music hall, he contemplates the fact that maybe he should have arranged to go with someone other than Junichi. Not that Junichi isn't a good friend, and he does have great taste in music (he'd recommended the band, so Sentaro hadn't even bothered to listen to any of their music before agreeing to see them live with him), but Junichi isn't exactly known for his good judgment. He'd probably get in a fight just as fast as Sentaro, and while he's grateful to know that someone always has his back, Sentaro would rather avoid causing a scene in public. Again.

Stopping at a traffic light, he drags his hand over his face and lets out a long breath, feet tapping against the pavement as he waits for the light to turn. The longer part of his undercut is rustled by the sea breeze, and he huffs his fringe off his forehead. Come to think of it, he's probably going to be late. Hopefully Junichi got a good spot in line already, or they're screwed.

-

"Kaoru!" Ritsuko calls, using her hands as a megaphone so he can hear her. "Hurry up, we're gonna miss the train!" He speeds up his pace to meet her on the platform, and they barely make it inside the train before the doors close shakily.

Plopping down in a window seat, Kaoru sighs. "Who is this band we're seeing again?" Ritsuko lowers herself into the chair next to him and squints at the tickets.

"They're called Handguns," she mumbles, her bright purple hair falling across her face. Kaoru makes a mental note of the way her delicate freckles look more harsh in the fluorescence of the subway, but he also notices that it doesn't make her any less beautiful. "Have you even heard them before?"

Ritsuko shakes her head. "No, but Yurika told me about them, so they must be good." She shrugs, and Kaoru doesn't press the issue. Even if Yurika hadn't gotten them the tickets for free, Ristuko wouldn't have argued. She's had a massive crush on Yurika for as long as he can remember.

"Is she going tonight?" he asks offhandedly, picking at a fray in the knee of his dark jeans. Not like it really matters either way to him, but he wants to keep the topic of conversation away from himself.

"No...her boyfriend is, though."

His eyes shoot up at that, brow furrowing. "She has a boyfriend?"

Ritsuko looks at her hands, twisting her fingers together out of nervous habit. "Yeah," is all she says as she bites on her lip ring.

"Do you know him?"

She shakes her head slightly. "I've seen him visit her at work, but I never bothered to talk to him." Kaoru gets that. It's kind of like how he avoids the record store at all costs; Yurika works there, and he'd prefer to avoid the person his crush likes. It just makes him feel inferior, even if he knows it's not Ritsuko's fault she isn't straight.

"Well, whatever then. It'll be fun either way." He gives her the most reassuring smile he can manage, and she feebly returns the gesture.

They fall into a comfortable silence, Kaoru haphazardly throwing his arm around the back of Ritsuko's seat as he stares out the window at the rest of the world flashing by.

-

Sentaro isn't late, for once in his life. Actually, he gets there even before Junichi, but he's the one with the tickets so Sentaro doesn't know what to do with himself. He sort of just hovers in line, hoping they don't open the doors before Junichi arrives.

They don't, and Junichi makes it by a very small margin, but it's good enough for Sentaro. Junichi dashes up to stand next to him at exactly 6:59, just one minute before they'd agreed to meet. The doors don't open till 7:30, according to the ticket, but Junichi knows a guy who works at the venue so he works his magic and they walk in at 7:04.

It's just the two of them and that guy Junichi knows, so it's awkward, but Junichi's friend (Sentaro hadn't even caught his name, oops) gives them free beer despite Sentaro's protests that he's only 19. Junichi dismisses him with a wave of his hand, so Sentaro shrugs it off and downs his drink in one go.

"How's uni treating you?" Junichi asks around the lip of his bottle. He eyes Sentaro cautiously, like he isn't sure he wants to know the answer.

"It's been alright. Nobody much to talk to though, really." Sentaro shrugs one shoulder, setting his empty bottle down on the bar.

"Have you even tried to make friends?"

Sentaro glares at him. "Yes, you asshat, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the most inviting person in the world." That's true, and Sentaro knows that Junichi can't argue. Between his thick eyebrows that seem to be stuck in a permanent furrow and his choppy undercut, not to mention the x-shaped scar on his left cheekbone, he doesn't exactly have a face that screams "I'm a nice person, come talk to me."

At the moment, he's also got a busted lip, but Junichi doesn't ask how that happened; he never does. Instead, all he says is, "You could be if you really wanted to."

-

It's currently 7:27 and Kaoru is panicking. The people in line directly in front of him have just pulled out an honest to god joint, and he's definitely not okay with getting arrested for drugs before he even gets out of his teens.

When he mutters as much under his breath, Ritsuko laughs. "You idiot, you shouldn't want to get arrested for drugs ever, no matter how old you are." She rolls her eyes. "And besides, you won't get in trouble even if they get busted. People do that all the time at concerts, and nobody gets arrested except for the people who actually, you know, have drugs." She smirks, playing with the tips of her hair as she watches him in amusement.

Kaoru lets out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. "Oh," he mumbles intelligently.

"And anyway," Ritsuko whispers from behind her hand, "I'm much more interested in how long these two will last before they finally rip each other's clothes off." She discreetly hooks a thumb in the direction of the couple behind her, who are in fact dry humping against the wall of the building. Kaoru chokes on his own spit.

"What the hell kind of sketchy event did you bring me to?" He can feel his eyes bugging out his head in disbelief that there are actual people who have such a lack of dignity.

Ritsuko laughs again. "It's just a concert, and this isn't even that bad. You should have been here when Blue Stahli came to town." Her eyes lose focus a bit, like she's having war flashbacks. Kaoru reasons that she probably is.

"All I'm saying is, this may not have been the best choice for my first concert ever." His eyes dart back to the druggies, and he can smell the stuffy air growing more pungent by the second.

"Don't worry, you get used to it." Ritsuko laces her arm around Kaoru's waist, which she knows will calm him down. It works.

"Just don't let me die." He looks at the couple again, and he swears he can hear them eating each other's tongues. It's disgusting, and decidedly unsanitary on a number of levels.

"I won't, you big baby."

Kaoru gives her a stern look. "Ritsu, you promise?"

"I promise. Now shut up, they're opening the doors."

-

The opening band was supposed to come on stage at 8pm, but due to technical difficulties they still have yet to start and it's already 8:12. Sentaro followed Junichi up to the mosh pit as soon as they saw the doors had been opened, but right about now he's deeply regretting that decision. It's awkward standing so close to so many randoms, not to mention the lights from the stage are fucking hot. He wishes he could be on the stage rather than packed in like a damn sardine at its base.

And there's also the fact that at least three couples in the vicinity have elected to take advantage of the delay and suck face, and Sentaro is betting that at least one of them will be shirtless by the time the show starts. He just hopes it's not one of the pair closest to him.

But then again, the group to his right managed to smuggle in a goddamn bong, and he's fed up with the smoke they keep blowing in his face. It's distracting to say the least, and he's starting to feel a bit lightheaded despite his best efforts to avoid inhaling the vile air. Junichi, for his part, doesn't seem bothered by it, but Sentaro has a sneaking suspicion that his friend has done worse than marijuana before. Of course it wouldn't bother him, if that's the case.

Either way, Sentaro is thanking God, the universe, or whoever the hell is listening when the opening band finally takes the stage at 8:23.

-

Halfway through the main act, Kaoru notices that he's managed to make his way into the mosh pit.

Or maybe it's more accurate to say that his way was made for him, since everyone seems to be in constant flux, and he really has no control over where his body ends up. Ritsuko is a few people away by now, somehow getting separated in the ebb and flow of the group, but she's keeping an eye on him and that makes him feel slightly reassured. Not that he's worried anything dire will happen, anymore; the druggies have long since abandoned the front for the meagre seating in the back, and the couples that had been lost in their own little world have finally given up and gone off to the bathrooms to get each other off.

The band is good, just like Ritsuko had expected; and even though Kaoru doesn't know any of their lyrics, he waves his arms enthusiastically and probably gets more into the music than he intends too. Maybe that's why, when the lead singer starts calling people up to crowd surf, Kaoru feels bold enough to make his way to the base of the stage.

It does cross his mind that maybe this isn't the best decision he's ever made, as he considers the livid look on Ritsuko's face, but he shrugs it off as the lead singer drags him onto the stage with his free hand. Kaoru doesn't know where to go from here, so the singer eyes him for a beat, then spins him around and pushes him off the stage, backwards, never missing a lyric.

The lights are blinding for a split second, then Kaoru's looking at the ventilation in the ceiling and trying not to think about the fact that strangers are currently touching his ass. He doesn't have much time to consider it anyway, since the next moment he's falling, crashing into the concrete of the floor.

-

"Shit!" is the first thing Sentaro says, snapping out of his daze the same instant he hears the other boy's ankle snap. It's gross, but he's had enough first-hand experience to know by the sound that the ankle is broken. He keeps cussing under his breath, crouching down to look the guy he'd dropped in the eyes. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm still a little out of it from earlier..." He trails off, not bothering to explain why he was so absentminded to begin with. He notices instead that the boy he's talking to isn't moving, and Sentaro nudges him a bit before realising he's out cold.

Everyone is giving them space, thankfully, but no one else seems to notice that this guy is actually injured, so Sentaro takes it upon himself to get help. It was his fault anyway, so it's the least he can do.

He bends over and scoops the other boy up into his arms, bridal style (which, as embarrassing as it may be, is the most practical given their current position), when he's interrupted by a yelling girl.

"Kaoru! Kaoru, are you okay?" she pants as she shoves her way through the crowd. When she reaches the two boys, her eyes widen instantaneously before narrowing back at Sentaro. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Well, I kind of...dropped him." Sentaro's eyes fall to the floor, staring at his dirty Chuck Taylors for no reason other than to avoid her piercing gaze.

"Why did you do that?!"

He looks up at her, frowning. "I didn't do it on purpose, obviously." She opens her mouth to say something else, but Sentaro cuts her off. "Enough. Let's just get him to a hospital before his ankle gets any worse."

She nods mutely, following Sentaro toward the door.

-

When Kaoru wakes up, the first thing he notices is an acute pain in the bottom of his right leg. The next thing he notices is that he's in a hospital, and before he can piece those two facts together a faint rustling draws his attention to the far corner of the room; where a strange boy Kaoru has never seen before is currently leaning against the wall half asleep, with a scar on his face and more than a few bruises dusting his arms.

He gasps, letting out a tiny shriek as he fumbles to find the nurse call button. But he isn't wearing his glasses, and he can't see for shit, so before he manages to find it a warm hand steadies his own.

He recognises this person though, much to his surprise. "Ritsu, what the...?"

"Shhh," she hushs him as she sits carefully on the edge of his bed. "That's Sentaro...he's the one who dropped you. He carried you the whole way here though, been here ever since." She bites her lip a little, like she's not telling him something.

"Sen...?" Kaoru tries to talk again, but his throat feels scratchy from disuse.

"Don't talk. You've been out for two days, mild concussion," Sentaro slurs as he palms his eyes groggily. He tosses Ritsuko a water bottle sitting nearby, which she hands to Kaoru.

He drinks gratefully, then turns to her. "Wait, two days? Did you tell my family what happened?"

She nods solemnly. "Yeah, but they were surprisingly okay with it. They were here until this morning, but they said they didn't want to hover." Kaoru frowns, trying to figure out why his own family would leave before some stranger. Before he can ask as much, Ritsuko continues, "But now I gotta go to work, so I'll leave you to rest. Get better soon, 'kay?" She leans down and presses a light kiss to his forehead, the cold metal of her lipring pressing starkly into his skin.

Then she's gone, and it's just him and Sentaro. "So. Uhm, Sentaro, right?" Kaoru fumbles, and Sentaro nods.

"You're Kaoru, right? Ristuko really cares about you, y'know."

Kaoru feels his eyes widen with shock. "What?"

"I mean, she's a really good friend. I tried to tell her I could handle you myself, but she wouldn't leave your side till you woke up. Called in to work and everything."

"Oh. Yeah, she's always been like that." Kaoru swallows thickly, not sure how to deal with the situation at hand. "Hey, uh, have you seen my glasses anywhere?"

Sentaro hums an affirmation, and moments later Kaoru's glasses are being tentatively pushed onto the bridge of his nose. Once he's got them on, he can see Sentaro's face clearly for the first time, and he kind of wishes he hadn't asked for his glasses back.

Sentaro is beautiful, but not in the conventional way; he's got scars and bruises and a cut on his lip, and his eyebrows are harsh and his hair is weird, but somehow he still looks approachable. Not friendly, exactly, but definitely not as tough as people seem to consider him. Maybe it's just Kaoru, but he swears Sentaro's eyes sparkle, even in the dreary light of the hospital room.

And as he adjusts the glasses, his face is dangerously close to Kaoru's.

-

Sentaro is not a sentimental person. Ever since his dad made it clear that he wasn't wanted, he's been doing his best not to get attached to people. Maybe he's a little attached to Junichi, but that's a different issue entirely; he's known Junichi since they were kids.

But this boy, Kaoru, is threatening to undermine all the emotional fortification he's put up throughout the years. His black hair is wild, shaved on one side and laying across his left shoulder, and even through his glasses Sentaro can see the other boy's sparkle in his eyes, his eagerness for life. It's not something Sentaro usually notices, but he isn't complaining. He could look at Kaoru all day and never get tired of it.

To prevent himself from saying something embarrassing, or doing something else awkward like he had earlier when he gave Kaoru his glasses back, he makes small talk. Or he tries, but he's literal shit at it.

"So, when did you get that done?" he asks, pointing to the ring in the right side of Kaoru's nose.

"A year ago, maybe? My family didn't know, but they've probably seen it now..." He lets his sentence fade, probably worrying over all the trouble he's caused the past couple days. He seems like a perpetual worrier.

"Did it hurt?" Sentaro prompts, trying to distract Kaoru from his current distress.

He shakes his head. "Not really, I mean not more than a pinch."

"I've never been brave enough for face piercings. Just got an earring, and my collarbones."

Kaoru stares at him. "Your collarbones?" Sentaro nods, pulling the collar of his shirt down and leaning forward so Kaoru can see. "But didn't that hurt?" Kaoru asks, eyes trailing up Sentaro's neck to meet his eyes once more.

"Like a bitch. But hey, people think they're hot." He shrugs, like it's no big deal. He happens to be proud of his collarbone piercings, but he'll never admit it.

"People. Not girls." Kaoru doesn't ask, he just repeats Sentaro's words.

"Don't get me wrong, girls are great." Sentaro scratches the back of his neck self-consciously. "But so are guys."

Kaoru gapes at him then, for what feels like eternity before he finally sputters, "You - you're gay?"

Sentaro shakes his head; he's used to this. "The word you're looking for is bi, dude. But don't worry, I'm not gonna jump you or anything."

-

Kaoru spends the rest of his hospital stay contemplating what Sentaro had said. Not the thing about his piercings, specifically, but about being bi.

Kaoru's never thought about it before; his family was always pressuring him to marry a nice girl and start a family, so he always just went with it. And besides, he's been in love with Ritsuko for years now. Lately, he'd started accepting that she would never love him back, not in the same way, but he's only just now considering his other options. Like boys, for instance. Like Sentaro.

He isn't sure precisely when it happened, but at some point in the five days he had to stay at the hospital, he'd fallen at least a little bit in love with Sentaro. Maybe it was the easy way he talked, or how Kaoru felt like he could tell Sentaro anything, or how secure he made Kaoru feel. Or maybe it was just the fact that even though he barely knew Kaoru, he never left his side while he was being tended to in the hospital. Even Ritsuko came and went because of work, but Sentaro just skipped his classes and tried his damnedest to keep Kaoru entertained. There was only so much he could do, but he made those five days bearable.

But now Kaoru's being discharged, and he isn't sure what to make of it. He definitely doesn't want to ask for Sentaro's phone number, and he totally isn't imagining what it would be like to get a text from him each morning. No, that would be stupid of him.

It would also be stupid if, as he's getting his vitals checked one last time, he notices the cut on Sentaro's lip is healing, and wants to kiss it till it's all better. And it would most certainly be stupid if, while he's picturing that, his heartbeat spikes and the nurse has to take his pulse again because he messed her up.

-

He's going to do it. He's going to ask for Kaoru's number, or to see him again, or something, so he can make this whole ordeal worthwhile. Not that it isn't worthwhile just for the sake of being with Kaoru for five days, but it would sure be nicer if he could be with him again.

That's why he steels himself and utters the words he swore he'd never tell anyone else. Conviction, be damned. "Hey Kaoru, do you think...would you mind seeing me again?" He swallows, and Kaoru looks up at him from the wheelchair the nurse had confined him to.

Sentaro's knuckles are going to bust open at this rate, he's gripping the handles so hard, but he can't help it. Kaoru just nods, oblivious to Sentaro's internal crisis. "Yeah, I would like that." Sentaro can't see his face, but his tone is happy, at least.

"Really?"

Kaoru turns to him then, confused. "Uh, why wouldn't I?"

Sentaro can feel his face get hot, and he mentally curses himself for being so bad at dealing with people. "No reason, it's just. Most people don't particularly like me." He shrugs noncommittally.

"Sen, that's probably just because you don't usually spend days on end with them before you ask if you can be their friend. Don't you think you did this a little backwards?" Kaoru cocks an eyebrow, teasing, but something else catches Sentaro's attention.

"Friends? Wait, no, I mean, that's good." He clears his throat anxiously.

Kaoru keeps staring at him. "But?" he prods.

"I was hoping maybe...we could go on, like, a date?" His voice lilts up at the end pathetically, like he isn't sure that's what he wants to say.

Kaoru doesn't seem to mind; actually, he visibly brightens. "That's even better." He smiles, and Sentaro leans down to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. He'd seen Ritsuko do it multiple times throughout Kaoru's hospital stay, so he figured it would be alright. Kaoru turns beet red, which makes Sentaro glad he did it.

Then Kaoru's family arrives to pick him up, and they say their goodbyes. But not before Sentaro drawls his name and number across Kaoru's cast, and not before he leans up to give Kaoru a quick peck on the nose and a ruffle of his weirdly adorable hair, and definitely not before Sentaro realises he's fallen in love.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a song by New Politics...and because Kaoru literally falls into Sentaro's arms, get it? I'm an idiot.


End file.
